Photos - The Korea Times

From Paengmok port

A person passes behind a large drape covered with handwritten messages of hope on Jindo, Monday night. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulBy Shim Hyun-chul  PAENGMOK PORT ― Being here for six days was an exhausting experience.Few outside the family members of passengers missing or recovered from the sunken ferry Sewol felt entitled to complain, knowing the weight of their sorrow. A respite was provided by the countryside scenery seen during trips back and forth to a gym on Jindo Island and Paengmok Port, both of which have been crowded with people in extreme distress. Blossoms were on display, but few could afford to appreciate them. Late Monday night, bodies were pulled out of the water and placed in ambulances heading for a mortuary. The process has become a ritual. The night sky took on the hue of coal.

Apr 22, 2014By Shim Hyun-chul

Quenching more than thirst

By Shim Hyun-chulFrom FISHING BOAT, Jindo ― It was about 7 a.m. Monday.Four photographers including this reporter rented a boat to get near the site where the ferry Sewol sank.An armada of ships, small boats and dinghies were scattered throughout the area.The sea was calm, making one wonder if it was the same sea that had engulfed hundreds of students.Still, the job comes first.With the help of a telescopic lens, a search of a different sort got under way. It didn’t take long to spot one man among six on board one of the rubber boats. The man in a wetsuit was pouring water from a 1.5 liter PET bottle of mineral water into his mouth. The boat had a Coast Guard sign on its side. He is among hundreds of divers who are diving for 20 minutes at a time into the bowels of the sunken ferry to look for survivors. Their effort so far has ended up in recovering the remains of the passengers. Some may say they have less than a 1 percent chance of finding survivors. Perhaps, the diver was drinking water to make up for the remaining 99 percent so that he could find just one su

Apr 21, 2014By Shim Hyun-chul

Keeping hope alive

A woman looks out of a window in a gym on Jindo Island, South Jeolla Province, Sunday. Several hundred family members and friends of thosewho might still be trapped in the sunken ferry Sewol have stayed at the gym for the last five days since the accident, waiting for news of rescue efforts. / Korea Times photos by Shim Hyun-chulBy Yoon Sung-won,Shim Hyun-chulJINDO — A woman stood beside a window at a gym in Jindo on Sunday morning.It was not possible nor needed to be asked what she was doing.Her shoulders shook hard as she breathed heavily, sobbing  in silence. Maybe she was thinking about her child who might still be trapped inside the ill-fated ferry Sewol.Everyone would hate to say it out loud, but the prospect of any survivors has now become less likely as more than 100 hours have passed since the accident occurred.Experts said survivors could remain alive for 72 hours in such circumstances. The grief of losing a child is heartbreaking, and if it comes unexpectedly, the pain is beyond description.Volunteer workers

Apr 20, 2014

New vision for an old city

Workers add the finishing touches to the Ahyeon Overpass in central Seoul,on Sept. 19, 1968, one day before its opening. After 46 years, the city demolished the deterioreting road as part of a new urban redevelopment plan. / Courtesy of Seodaemun District Office By Yoon Sung-wonWhen Korea was in the midst of its 1960s construction craze, when highways and civic megaliths reassured people of industrialization in progress, only a few recognized the stupidity of putting major roads in the hearts of cities.Half a century later, the country is showing urgency in removing the brutal structures of the past. It took 45 days for Seoul City to destroy the 46-year-old Ahyeon Overpass to make room for its new urban development plan and public transport connections. A large number of shopkeepers and pedestrians gathered on March 26 to see workers take out the last remaining column of the elevated road. Some residents came out with their children. The job took less than a half-hour. The road, completed in 1968, was initially built to improve traffic flow and boost regional econ

Apr 10, 2014

Spring like summer with cherry blossoms

A woman walks in Mapo, central Seoul, amid scattered cherry blossom petals, Wednesday. High temperatures brought cherry blossoms to bloom more than 10 days earlier than in previous years. / YonhapBy Yoon Sung-won A bird alights on a cherry blossom tree in Yunjungno, Monday./ Korea Times photos by Shim Hyun-chul The blooming of cherry blossoms tempts us to believe that winter is finally over and spring is upon us. Sometimes, we are betrayed by what is felt like a seasonal revenge or "ggotsaem chuwi," literally meaning "flower jealousy cold." This year, we had one or two of those but what is taking us by surprise is unseasonably warm weather. On the last weekend of March, families, friends and lovers walked under the white-and-pink cherry blossom trees and took pictures against the blooming blossom at Yunjungno, a street in Yeouido, Seoul. The beautiful spring flower sprouting its petals came in March for the first time in 92 years. For anyone who recall this period of time last year, which was much colder and even accompanied by snow, the early arrival of spring is met with the w

Apr 3, 2014

Is White Day worth the fuss?

A man looks at gift-wrapped chocolate and candy products displayed in front of a convenience store in downtown Seoul, Wednesday. On “White Day,” which falls on March 14, men are encouraged to give sweets or gifts to express affection to the women in their lives. In Korea, women give sweets to men on Valentine’s Day. / Korea Times photos by Shim Hyun-chulBy Yoon Sung-wonTwo days ahead of “White Day,” Friday, temporary stands in front of bakeries and convenience stores were overstocked with gift-wrapped candies and chocolates.Businesses competitively advertised special offers for the day.However, the number of White Day customers in downtown Seoul has conspicuously diminished this year.In one instance, a man gave the stand a quick look before walking away muttering, “How cliche.”This is typical for a day that has been the subject of scorn and suspicion.A man picks up a piece of jewelry attached to a bottle of candy produced exclusively for “White Day” at a department store in Seoul.Every year, it seems, there are people in

Mar 13, 2014

Hippocratic Oath or workers' rights?

Junior doctors who participated in a nationwide strike listen to Korean Medical Association (KMA) President Roh Hwan-kyu at a gathering outside the association headquarters in Yongsan, central Seoul, Monday. The KMA staged the strike to protest the government’s plans to introduce telemedicine and allow hospitals to run for-profit subsidiaries. / Korea Times photos by Shim Hyun-chulBy Yoon Sung-wonThe first “strike” by doctors in 14 years on Monday, appeared to not have had as much impact as originally feared.It remains to be seen what inconveniences any further walkout will trigger, but one big question is still unanswered.Simply put: Which has a higher priority, their Hippocratic Oath or their rights as workers?This could be a lot more complicated, if the opposing assertions made by doctors and the government are taken into account.One sad fact in this whole affair is that patients are set to be the biggest losers.The “small picture” team canvassed about 20 clinics in downtown Seoul and Mapo, the western part of Seoul, and only one was found to be close

Mar 10, 2014

Japan turns deaf ear

A statue of a girl, representing Korean women who suffered as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II is dressed in hanbok, Korea’s traditional costume on Wednesday. Protesters are in the 1,116th week of a vigil held outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, urging the Tokyo government to apologize for forcing women into sexual slavery. / Korea Times photos by Shim Hyun-chul The national flag of Japan raised above the Japanese Embassy in Seoul is seen behind the flag of the United Nations. Protesters gather outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul to participate in the weekly rally.Kim Bok-dong, 88, one of 55 surviving former Korean sex slaves, listens to a speech during the weekly protest.Tisha Mason, right, who visited Korea from a Christian missionary in the U.S., participates in the weekly protest, holding a sign calling on Japan to officially apologize for enforcing sex slavery.

Mar 5, 2014

Under siege by ultrafine dust

Buildings in central Seoul are shrouded in a cloud of ultrafine particles, Tuesday. The Korea Meteorological Administration announced that the average atmospheric concentration of particulate matter measuring 10 micrometers (PM10) on the day was 228 micrograms per cubic meter, the most dangerous level in its five-level air pollution scale. / YonhapBy Yoon Sung-wonSeen from a subway train crossing a Han River bridge on a morning commute, Seoul remained in a thick fog of fine dust. On the street, commuters were walking without masks, looking like disarmed soldiers going to war. Many of them may have regretted listening to the weather forecast about the clouds of dust receding. Erring on the safe side, they should heed severe yellow sand warnings for March. Yellow dust from deserts in western China and Mongolia, sucks in fine particulate matter above Beijing and is blown over to Korea.The U.N. forecast that amounts of fine particulate matter from China will continue to increase at least until 2022, adding that it could rise until 2050 without proactive measures.Chinese President Xi Jinp

Feb 28, 2014

Missing you

Jang Sa-in, 74, looks at a photograph of his older brother Sa-guk, who died last year in North Korea, at his house in Sadang, southern Seoul, Thursday. Jang applied for the inter-Korean family reunions in 2008 but never got a chance to meet his brother. /  Korea Times photos by Shim Hyun-chul Jang opens an old briefcase that holds documents related to his older brother who died in North Korea, along with photos and letters he received from him. Jang shows photos and letters he has received since 2008 from his olderbrother in the North through a relative in China. Jang reads a letter he wrote in 2008 to his older brother in North Korea on the day he met him. Jang pulls out a handwritten letter he received in 2008 from his older brother in North Korea. Jang watches a television showing members of families meeting for the first time in six decades during the ongoing 19th inter-Korean family reunionsheld at the Geumgangsang Hotel in North Korea, Thursday.

Feb 21, 2014

For many others, reunions put on shelf forever

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